Advertisements for cosmetic surgery in South Korea. CHINA DAILY

Supposedly under strict supervision, the use of botox is prevalent in the cosmetic surgery industry. But while an injection can cost over 10,000 yuan ($1,460) in a similar hospital, an injection can cost just a few hundred yuan on the black market. For many potential buyers, although the source is unknown and the quality is not guaranteed, the price is cheap enough.

In the pursuit of beauty or high profits, both buyers and sellers are willing to naively think that an injection of the botulinum toxin, "is just as easy as injecting a needle under the skin".

Few people contemplating plastic surgery consider the fact that it involves medical procedures in which both the source of drugs and the operation procedures should satisfy strict standards. Plastic surgery is quite different from other skincare and cosmetic products.

Unfortunately, when plastic surgery has become a common practice, and even a "trend", no one has the patience to be so rational.

Because of the lack of awareness and lack of regulation, counterfeit botox products and procedures have grabbed more and more of the market. It is necessary to improve people's awareness of the dangers of cheap cosmetic surgery.